Winningest high school football coach John McKissick dies at age 93

Video: Legendary coach John McKissick wins 600th game
Summerville (S.C.) football coach expected to announce retirement.

John McKissick, who won 621 games and 10 state titles at Summerville (S.C.) in 63 years, died Thursday, according to an Associated Press report.

McKissick is the winningest football coach at any level, compiling a 621-155-13 record from 1952 to 2014. He won his final state title in 1998.

News reports said the National High School Sports Hall of Fame coach had been in hospice care and died surrounded by family.
"It's a tremendous loss not only for the Summerville community, but the Lowcountry and the state of South Carolina," former Stratford High School football coach Ray Stackley told the Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, S.C. "For guys like me, who coached against him for a lot of years, we became fierce competitors with him, but also tremendous friends. He and I have had a special friendship for a long, long time. It's going to be hard to imagine the Lowcountry and Summerville football without John McKissick."

Born Sept. 25, 2916 in Greenwood, S.C., McKissick letter in four sports at Kingstree High School, graduating in 1944. He served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II and was scheduled to be part of the invasion of Japan, according to the Post and Courier.

He married Joan Carter in 1952 and the couple had two daughters, Debbie Call and Cindy McElveen.

Hired in 1952 at Summerville, McKissick also served as the school's athletic director and earned a patent on cloth helmet covers to distinguish offensive and defensive players.

From 1978 to 1980, McKissick's Green Wave teams from 41 straight games. He's the only coach to notch 600 wins nine years after being the lone 500-game winner.

A stickler for detail, McKissick told MaxPreps in 2012 he had mellowed during the latter part of his career, but that his discipline never wavered.

"I'm a little more mellow now. I've changed with the times, but I never have changed discipline," he said. "I still don't have long hair and earrings. I get calls all the time. The judge always rules in favor of the coach, because athletics are not a must. They are a privilege. I've had kids transfer because of long dreadlocks. I think all kids want discipline. It's up to us to provide it for them. Some don't get it at home."

A.J. Green is among the notable Summerville alumni to play in the NFL.